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But there's a genuinely hopeful feeling about the alternatives to traditional big-name clubs.

Hugo Monypenny, the abandoned space promoter

I run Selective Hearing, a Manchester and Leeds club night. We move away from running nights in the standard club settings and instead use different spaces - be they garages, disused furniture warehouses or warehouses in the middle of industrial estates. The joy of it is going to a space that you would never expect to dance in.

The big clubs aren't as much fun for me because they are so regimented and there are so many rules. People are being drawn away to places like my night because there is no intimacy in the large venues. People prefer it intimate. Manchester has a strong underground scene that thrives on events in places like this.

The joy of it is going to a space that you would never expect to dance in

Hugo Monypenny

Promoter

This isn't about making shed loads of money. If you wanted to do that you would run student nights and commercial nights.

We do it because we love the music we put on.

Image caption 'It's the year of the individual' - Visionist

Visionist, DJ and producer

I think it's the year of the individual. Back in the day you had to go to the clubs to be part of a scene.

Now with the internet you can just put your music online and message a bunch of people around the world. Before you know it you have a scene.

The club has become unimportant at the beginning of getting [the music] out there. You used to have to get your tune to the DJ, now you don't. If you make sure it's promoted enough then you can get hundreds of thousands of hits.

More than double my shows are in Europe. I would like to play more cities in England and I think it is a problem.

There was a big scene for this type of music back in the day so why not now?

Maybe it's a lack of venue. In student towns it seems to be less about music [than in the past].

Meat Free, pay-as-you-club

We don't dictate a door charge and ask people to only pay what they think the night to be worth. This makes us work extra hard and ensures we never rest on our laurels.

People often come up to us at the end of the night and pay extra if they've had a really good time.

We wanted to do this so that we could give some element of control back to clubbers in a world of more regimented, mass-produced, commercial clubbing.

We started because we were a bit fed up with attending "serious" techno nights surrounded by snobs and beard-strokers and wanted to offer something different.

People often come up to us at the end of the night and pay extra if they've had a really good time

Alice Woods

Promoter

There's nothing worse than seeing a club close down or even just a night fail. The scene must contribute massively to the economy let alone to art and culture.

There's no doubt that the scene has become somewhat sanitised over the years.

People will always yearn for those legendary Manchester underground parties of the past, but even unofficial raves these days are pretty well organised, with hired-in portaloos.

We want people to come in and forget about how they look and what's going on outside - you come to Meat Free to dance! We use a lot of glitter, decorations and inflatables. Our punters seem to love it.